Darklands

aka: Darklands: Heldenhafte Abenteuer im mittelalterlichen Deutschland, Darklands: Heroic Role-Playing Adventures In Medieval Germany
Moby ID: 258
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

Darklands is a role-playing game set in 15th century Holy Roman Empire, which at that time encompassed today's Germany and several surrounding countries. Unlike most other role-playing games, it is set in a concrete historical environment that is accurately depicted, including geographical outlines, social and cultural backgrounds, authentic establishments and items, and so on. The game's supernatural elements are strictly based on the popular beliefs of that time and region and include fantastic creatures such as kobolds or dragons, curses, witchcraft, alchemy that actually works, etc.

The player controls a party of four active characters, though any amount of them can be created and swapped in the town inns. The player can begin by either selecting a pre-made party (quickstart) or by creating their own characters. In the beginning the player selects the character's social background. Afterwards, when they are ten years old, the player can choose an initial career path for them. Careers may include diverse occupations such as soldier, peasant, bandit, etc., which may eventually become more specialized (e.g. a student turning into an alchemist).

The more time the player invests in a certain career path (in five year periods), the more experience points the character receives, which can be manually allocated to improve their skills. Career choices affect main attributes such as strength or charisma, as well as skills, which involve weapon proficiencies, stealth, virtue, speaking Latin, healing, riding, and many others. Though there are no class definitions and each character can theoretically achieve excellence in any skill, character builds in the game can be seen as warriors, clerics, and alchemists. Religion-oriented characters may learn about various saints during the course of the game and pray to them for different benefits. Alchemists gain access to formulae and have to procure ingredients to mix potions with various effects. Skills in the game increase through repeated use: using swords in combat may increase the edged weapon skill, successfully conducted conversation may increase the character's common speech skill, etc.

The party chosen by the player begins the adventure in the inn of a randomly chosen town. The main plot eventually involves confronting a powerful demon and its cult, but it is unraveled only under specific circumstances achieved in the game. The game has a vast scope and can go on indefinitely. However, characters would age, grow weaker, and eventually die, requiring the player to create new ones. The main goal is to collect as much fame for the party as possible to obtain higher-ranked quests with better rewards, which also includes the quest that leads to the completion of the main plot. The player is completely free to roam the vast map of the Empire, accessing towns, castles, villages, and other places of interest. Towns and castles are navigated via text menus, with background images representing various locations. The travel screen is a map of the Empire with a lone figure representing the player-controlled party.

Most settlements of the same type have nearly identical options, though actual results may vary depending on the characters' skills, their local reputation, as well as unique traits found in different locations. For example, different towns may have wares of vastly different quality for sale; villages may engage in devil worship, and the player may attempt to prove that, etc. It is possible to increase local reputation (for example, by taking on cutthroats bothering the citizens) and overall fame by making virtue-increasing choices and vanquishing foes. It is, however, also possible to become outlaws by attacking guards, killing priests on the roads, and so on.

The game has several large isometric dungeon-type areas, most notably mines of different types, which contain generic quests as well as puzzles to solve. Areas unique to the main plot are also built like dungeons with particularly dangerous enemies and treasure to loot. However, much of the activity in the game takes place either in towns or in the wilderness, through various types of random encounters. The player is always given the option to avoid combat either through diplomacy or other means, the success depending on the character's corresponding attributes.

Combat takes place on separate isometric screens and proceeds in real time, but the player can pause the action to give orders to the characters at any time, giving it a pseudo-turn-based flavor. Characters can be ordered to attack, search for the enemies' vulnerable spots, use items, etc. Different types of weapons may have different effects depending on the enemies' armor: for example, blunt weapons are more effective against plate armor than swords. Depending on the enemies' intentions, player-controlled characters may only be knocked down or wounded mortally in case of defeat. Dead characters can not be brought back to life and must be replaced with new ones.

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Credits (DOS version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 16 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 62 ratings with 8 reviews)

Time to kill the mood!

The Good
People seem somewhat excited about it.

Map of Germany is somewhat entertaining and cities are accurately named.

The Bad
Almost everything else.

The Bottom Line
I recently purchased this game for 99 cents on Good Old Games, figuring it would be a very nice distraction from my usual schedule. I downloaded the installer, ran it and was ready for the greatest open-world adventure of my entire life!!! Then I installed Mount&Blade again, because this game is the most overrated crap I have ever seen. I usually refrain from flat-out calling a game crap in my reviews, but here there is just no other way to describe it. Seldom have I felt this much hatred for a game, let alone one that is so humble in nature.

Let's start at the beginning...

Upon booting the game I was given three options: Quick Play, Start a New Adventure and Continue. I wanted my own adventure, so I selected the New Game option and started making my own party. This is where my first problem comes in: YOU CAN NEVER READ ANYTHING! Aside from been just downright pixelated, the letters are also written in a front that just blends together even more. It also does the same thing as Fallout 3, where the names of stats are abbreviated to fit in a smaller window. A lot of people praised the customization, but frankly I can't get very excited about pouring points in stats like "wffl" or "Strw". I decided to put points into whatever I could decipher and clicked next, whereupon the game politely reloaded the exact same menu and told me to add even more points to my character. I picked up somewhere along the line that this moves the character through the phases of his life, but I got so sick and tired of the mere idea that I just saved the character and added him to the pre-made party. Ready to start my adventure, I clicked the Go button and went off!

Sadly the button did nothing, as did half the other buttons located in the menu. I returned to the main menu after that and just selected Quick Game. This lead me to a text-screen that filled me in on what amounts to a story. I was to take control of a group of knights devoted to good, so my previous efforts in making a sneaky thief were utterly worthless right off the bat. Things got worse when the conversation ended and nobody had said a single word in regards to what we had to do, they offered some suggestions, but no direction. Some suspicions started to arise within me, so I left the inn and 'lo and behold, I was offered a dozen options to go to places.

It's not that I don't like text-based games, but this genre doesn't mix at all with sandbox features. In this scenario all that's going to happen is that the player will do something and the game will always follow a success up with "What do you want to do now". It carries no weight to the overall narrative, nor to the player's emotions, it's just a collection of meaningless screens. I was devoted to try and get into it though, so I pursued all my leads in search of a story. After ten minutes of play I had a vague hint that their might be a quest hidden somewhere in the city, but with nighttime approaching I decided to get one quick glance of what the local shops offered.

The answer turned out to be... incomprehensible menus! I could not figure any of it out, but knowing people were going to flame me for saying this, I decided to check out the manual... It has over 100 pages! I have always stood by the notion that if you can't explain something simply, then you yourself simply don't understand it. 108 pages is therefore a clear sign of NOT UNDERSTANDING it, not even the producers knew what they were doing. I know I can just look at the first few pages to look for a page I need, but this is just so overwhelming that I'd rather just fire up anything else. By the way, doesn't it seem logical to give a few quick hints in-game, seeing as how we are already spending the entire game looking at text anyway? Games like Zork also had built-in commands that you could call upon for some quick help, so why doesn't Darklands have any?

It was now night and I was still at a loss, so as a last hope I randomly wandered around town until bandits attacked me. This was literally what pushed me over the edge, the combat is HORRENDOUS. The idea is that the fights are real-time, but you can pause the action to issue commands. I tried this, but using the mouse is so jittery that I couldn't manage to do anything, most of the time the game just beeped loudly and my guys stood perfectly still. That was the point where I force-closed the game, this was the breaking point. After I submitted my review though, I was approached by Unicorn Lynx who suggested I might not have given the game a fair chance. After having given it some rest, I decided to try once more and I found that if you are willing to dig through that enormous manual than the game can be at least playable. It doesn't fix issues with readability, the plot that doesn't exist or the obtuse menus, but I at least managed to skip town and head somewhere. I was almost starting to get into it when I walked out of a random gate and the game suddenly told me I had died, followed by a cut-scene and the game freezing on me.

I have no idea how people can get so excited over this on Mobygames, I read claims like "Darklands is an RPG that would kick the living day-lights out of today's games!" and this forced me to ask: "Really?".

You would REALLY rather play Darklands than Dragon Age: Origins.

You would rather play Darklands than World of Warcraft?

You would rather play Darklands than Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

Even if we are too place ourselves in the mindset of a gamer from 1992 it falls very flat. Zelda II was already kicking around, Ultima was already dominating the genre since 1980 and... what is supposed to be revolutionary about this game? Text-based game were around before and after this game and the combat is a massive downgrade compared to the already mediocre Ultima IV combat.

Before people bring it up, no I am not trolling anyone. I like both RPG-games and text-adventures, I have played a lot of each and also some games that combined both these genres. Darklands is just bad. It's the worst game I have ever played, in fact. The end.

DOS · by Asinine (957) · 2012

A realistic historical CRPG that could've revolutionized the industry.

The Good
The singular most likeable thing about Darklands is that it broke the mold. In an industry of CRPGs that all seem to use some variant on the classic AD&D rules, Darklands wanted to be, and succeeded, in being different. There are no classes, no wizards, no levels, no spells, etc. Instead you get a much more original game system; alchemy, praying for saintly blessings, open ended skill sets, a semi-linear plot, and one of the earliest functional realtime/turn based combat systems. Want to avoid the main story and just run around Germany? Feel free. Although the game doesn't really do much as far as adapting to the way you're playing, you can go about your own business as you see fit.

The character creation (which is similar to ones used in games both before and after [notably MegaTraveller and Twilight 2000]) is wonderful, as you quickly run through your character's histories and watch as the functions they've served in their past affect their stats and skills sets. This is a wonderful way of doing things, because you can create the young, strapping guy who's physically fit, but untrained, the veteran knight, or the aged woman who's very knowledgeable, even if old age is creeping up on her. Characters have history and aren't just 'Bob the first level fighter'.

The world is a medieval Germany as the more superstitious saw it. It's 'historically' accurate and Celtic folklore, witches, and German faery tales all combine into a wonderful tapestry of culture. The game may teach you a few things about Germany of the period and the creatures drawn from Terran mythologies are every bit as wonderful as one from a complete fantasy world.

The main interface art imitates water color and, while muddled, is very attractive and fits the mood, even if the images are all static. Even though you'll see the same image hundreds of times, you'll rarely grow tired of most of the imagery. The combat graphics are clean and functional, if everyone moves rather stiffly.

Anyone who's played Pirates or Sword of the Samurai will recognize the 'choose your own adventure' text interface for most options. Unlike the previous games where the options were limited, Darklands gives as many options as you have abilities. Want to get into a castle? Bribe the guard, con your way in, bust your way in, try to climb in, or call upon a saint for a heavenly solution. Granted, in most cases, one learns the 'best' solution, but there is some randomness, so what worked last time may not work another.

Again, Microprose comes through with another superb manual that not only runs through the game, but also gives a history lesson on medieval Germany.

The Bad
The biggest problem for someone who finds an early copy of this game is the very thing that caused this game to never be as popular as it should have been: BUGS. This was perhaps the first major game to be shipped long before it was ready and for over a year and half after its release Microprose was sending out patch disks every few months. Until at least the second one, the game was virtually unbeatable as a few set encounters would almost always crash the machine. If you pick this up, look for patches and make sure you have latest version (.07?).

If the repeating menu screens in Pirates! and Sword of the Samurai bug you, perhaps you should avoid this game. You'll spend a great deal of time staring at similar screens and choosing similar options. In many people, the game inspired enough imagination to get around this flaw, but not everyone can stand the redundancy.

The combat engine, while inventive, becomes repetitve very quickly as you often wind up performing the same tactics again and again against enemies that lack in variation (every thug looks the same as another thug, every soldier looks like another soldier, etc...) in areas that all start to look the same. I must admit that while there was nothing new about most of the battles, they didn't wear on me in most circumstances (though some dungeons and castles can get tiresome).

The sheer amount of saints (realistic, mind you), many of them performing similar functions, sometimes makes it difficult to keep track of who does what. While there's no problem as far as the option menus, sometimes you want to pray to a saint or two before battle to get some combat benefits and you'll find yourself referring back to the manual to determine what saints are good for what.

The Bottom Line
One of the few realistic role-playing games ever created, featuring a wonderful skill-based system and an open-ended world. It's a cult classic for a reason and would have been more popular had it not been plagued with game stopping bugs in the earlier versions. Anyone tired of clerics, mages, elves, and dwarves should take a look.

DOS · by Ray Soderlund (3501) · 2000

Fantastically atmospheric

The Good
The game just oozes atmosphere, I love the whole medieval setting and the fact most of the graphics are stills means the age of the game doesnt show too much. The character creation system is great and you can really get quite attached to the little blighters as they develop in stature and fame. This open ended premise basically means you can create your own story rather than be lead along like in the Final Fantasy series.

The Bad
The graphics are dated as are the sounds, but as I said they really dont detract from the whole experience. The open ended nature can get a bit tiresome without enough focus as generally repeating the same actions will reap the most benefits.

The Bottom Line
A classic RPG worth checking out if your a casual player ESSENTIAL if you are an RPG fan.

DOS · by Hugh McKenna (4) · 2001

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Uh-oh... Unicorn Lynx (181788) Sep 9, 2013
Wrong Platforms? Señorita Kathryn (615) Mar 5, 2012

Trivia

Cancelled Amiga version

An Amiga version of Darklands was considered, but the game was judged as too large to be played from floppy, and the potential market of hard-disk equipped Amigas was apparently deemed not large enough, going by a chat log with Arnold Hendrick.

Influence

Darklands is based on history (whether true or not) of the influence of the Templar Knights, a powerful monastic order during the crusades which were eventually crushed by the Church (Pope Clement V) and the King of France (King Philip IV) based on their allegations with Satan, specifically Baphomet.

Intended Sequels

From the Designer's Notes in the Game Manual: "Darklands was designed to permit sequels. It is possible to have some additional adventures in Germany. More importantly, it is possible to create entirely new games elsewhere in Europe. The system not only allows moving "saved game" files back and forth, but also allows you to load multiple games onto your hard disk and move back and forth between the nations, in a sort of giant adventure. Let us know what you enjoyed in Darklands, what you would like to see in a sequel, and what setting you prefer. There are plenty of possibilities: the Emperor in Germany has many political problems and intrigues, England and France are busy finishing the last half of the Hundred Years War, after which England falls into civil war (the War of the Roses). Meanwhile, Italy is at the peak of its warring city-states era, Vlad the Impaler appears in the Balkans (the historical figure who ultimately became Dracula), Tamerlane is conquering Central Asia, and much more.What's your preference?" ~ Arnold Hendrick, 1992.

Sadly, they must not have received enough feedback to pursue this any further.

Memory

The game needs over 600K of free DOS memory to avoid crashes. In fact, the MORE lower memory you can free up, the better the game runs, something that is barely addressed by all the later patches.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #10 Least Rewarding Ending of All Time

Information also contributed by Игги Друге and Indra was here

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  • MobyGames ID: 258
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Brian Rubin.

Windows added by Picard. Linux, Macintosh added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Kasey Chang, Indra was here, Jeanne, Glen Henderson, formercontrib, Patrick Bregger.

Game added August 30, 1999. Last modified March 6, 2024.